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Illustrated Police News, Nov. 10, 1883. |
Zora was unhappy and left her employer in 1883. She returned to her father’s
home in St. Elmo, but on Friday, October 12, she went back to Lincoln, telling her
father she was going to get $20.00 that Orrin Carpenter owed her. The following
Monday, her body was found on the road outside Lincoln. Her head was bruised,
and her throat had been cut from ear to ear. There was no apparent motive for
the murder and no suspects.
The mystery cleared somewhat when a post-mortem examination
revealed that Zora had been several months pregnant. Orrin Carpenter became the
prime suspect in Zora’s murder.
Carpenter was tried for murder, but the evidence was slim
and circumstantial. The jury found Carpenter not guilty, but he was convicted
by the court of public opinion. 4,000 citizens of Lincoln agreed to banish
Carpenter from Logan County and drove him out of town at gunpoint.
Read the full story here: The Mystery of Zora Burns
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